The Black Perspective: May 4, 2025

This week on the Black Perspective, Gracie Award-winning anchor Esther Dillard speaks with NBA legend Alonzo Mourning and American Kidney Fund President Laverne Addison Burton about raising awareness for kidney disease in the Black community.

Andrea Coleman previews her sit-down with Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, for an important conversation on advocacy and equity.

Alexandria Ikomoni catches up with actor Devale Ellis—star of BET’s Sistas and Zatima—and his wife Khadeen Ellis to talk marriage, family, and building their hit podcast together.

Mimi Brown shares a preview of a bonus episode from her powerful new podcast To Altadena, With Love, revisiting the real stories of Black survivors impacted by the Altadena wildfires.

And Doug Davis returns with another installment of Your Black Business, featuring a Black tech entrepreneur whose rideshare app is breaking barriers—despite ongoing challenges securing the capital needed to scale.

Listen now! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Sunday, May fourth, the day before Sinko demil And.
On Today's show twenty twenty five, Gracie Award winning anchor
Esther Dillard talks to an NBA superstar, Alonzo Mourning and
the President of American Kidney Fund, Laverne Addison Burton, who
is raising awareness about kidney disease. Andrea Coleman gives us
a preview of her sit down with the president and

(00:22):
CEO of the National Urban League, Mark Murreal. Alexandre Icimoni
sits down with actor Deval Ellis from Beet's Sistas and
Zatima and his wife Cadeen Ellis about marriage, family, their podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
And more.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Mimi Brown gives us a preview of a bonus episode
of To Altadena with Love, her new podcast, as she
retells real stories from black victims of the Altadena wildfires.
And Doug Davis is back with another segment of Your
Black Business. These stories and more are coming your way.
On today's program, Welcome to the Black Perspective, I'm your host,

(01:00):
Mike Island.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the black community.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Good Sunday, everyone, and welcome to the Black Perspective. Mark Morial,
the President and CEO of the National Urban League, is
one of the more visible and vocal black leaders challenging
the actions of the Trump administration and their impacts on
the black community. In an exclusive interview with the Black
Information networked this week, mister Morril delivered a powerfully sobering

(01:33):
message about the times we're living in and the urgent
need for people to come together and protect our way
of life.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
Miss Morial, thank you so much for stopping by our
studios in Atlanta today and spending some time with us.

Speaker 5 (01:45):
Great to be with you here in Atlanta, and big
thanks to the Black Information Network. You all give us
a chance to get our voice out there, and that's
so crucial in these times.

Speaker 6 (01:57):
Let's talk about this moment.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
One hundred days, just an incredible number of executive orders,
many of them impacting Black Americans in many ways.

Speaker 6 (02:08):
What do you make of it?

Speaker 5 (02:10):
Yeah, it's been chaotic, it's been an unrelenting assault. When
the black general, highly qualified chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff can be unceremoniously sacked, you know, it's because
of his race that he was sacked when the Department

(02:30):
of Education, which holds up the banner for educating all
of our children, can be duped and dumped, the MBDA,
the CFPB, the EEOC, all of these agencies went two
hundred and fifty thousand Federal employees are just thrown out
of their jobs under the banner of waste, frauded abuse,

(02:52):
where there's no proof, no evidence, not one sentilla, not
one thimble, not one speck of evidence that any of
them have engaged in any fraud or that any of
their jobs represented waste. This is what you have. Last
two evenings ago at Newrogliberty Airport, there was a ground stop.

(03:13):
One of the reasons why there was a ground stop
is because there's insufficient air traffic control as well. This
doge musk bulldozer fired people at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Speaker 7 (03:26):
This is what you have.

Speaker 5 (03:27):
Chaos and risk being created. Employees at the Veterans Administration
who provide medical services and administrative services and social services
start returning veterans and people who participated in the defense
of this country. When those agencies are cut unceremoniously, it

(03:47):
is chaos, and the chaos is causing pain to the
average people in tariffs, which are nothing but a sales tax,
began to increase the price of most of the things
we buy. I want to ask, what is the sensibility,
what is the strategy? What is the economic policy here?

Speaker 7 (04:06):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
Well, it's interesting because it seems us along with all
the changes, a layer of protection has also been stripped.
So what's the recourse? Where do people go to find
some kind of measure of a pathway to security, to safety,
especially like the federal workers. It just seems that not
only were these actions taken, but the laws that were

(04:31):
placed and acted to protect us from these kind of
actions have also been stripped away.

Speaker 5 (04:36):
Because the First Amendment gives us the right of our voice,
Because the First Amendment and the Constitution gives us a right.

Speaker 6 (04:44):
To pursue justice through the courts.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
Because the First Amendment gives us a right to assemble
and protest and make our voices heard. Because the First
Amendment and our right to vote gives us an opportunity
to weigh in in elections, not just federal elections, but
in local elections as well. This is not a this
is not a comfortable moment. People looking for a one
shot fix. There's no COVID vaccinine, vaccine here. There's no

(05:12):
equivalent of a nuclear strike of some sort. I mean
to use a maybe not the best now, there's no
It's going to require a sustained effort. It's going to
be uncomfortable, it's going to be with a lot of pain.
But we're tested as a generation, not just black people,

(05:33):
but America is being tested.

Speaker 7 (05:35):
Many of those employees who.

Speaker 5 (05:36):
Are laid off, a good number of them obviously are
African American. But it's not just African Americans. It's not
just Latinos, it's not just women. We shouldn't make this scene.
But the disproportionate assault on civil rights progress, gutting, the
attempt to gut the Civil Rights Act, the attempt to

(05:59):
gut the Voting Rights Act, is palpable. It's dangerous, it's
un American, and we just have a responsibility to resist it.
So people have to use their voice. People have to protest,
they've got to protest online. They've got to hold their
elected officials accountable.

Speaker 7 (06:17):
This is a time for a new movement, a movement.

Speaker 5 (06:20):
To protect American democracy, to protect equal opportunity to build.
If you will the will for a more sane economic agenda.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
That was just a preview of the conversation with Andrea
and Mark Morio. Stay tuned for a special feature on
Leading Wild Black this summer. You may know actor daval
Ellis from Sisters and Zatima on BET but the Black
Information Networks. Alexandria Icimoni talked to him and his wife
Kadeine Ellis about podcast rebranding, upcoming shows, marriage and more.

Speaker 6 (06:55):
What's up, guys, you to grow Alexandria Ikamoni in the
studio iHeartRadio with Val and Kadeen Ellis. How are you
doing today? Doing great, amazing? Well, happy to have you
guys in studio. Thank you.

Speaker 8 (07:07):
We're so happy to be here. I mean being a
part of the iHeart family. It only makes sense.

Speaker 6 (07:10):
Hello, Hello, the best stop on the press tour. I
can say it's all my sol but we're so happy
to have you guys. We all love you, we all
see the work you guys do. RADI a couple doing
amazing things and I know we're here to talk about
primarily one thing where we'll talk about a lot today quickly,
but we want to start off with the podcast. Of course,

(07:31):
it's being rebranded, a new name, a new feel, tell
us more about it, and what's the new vision for
the podcast because it's been around for a long time.

Speaker 7 (07:40):
Yeah, we're going on seven years now.

Speaker 8 (07:42):
Seven years, sixteen seasons that we're recording now, over two
hundred episodes.

Speaker 9 (07:48):
Yeah, Webby Award, Yes, sold out tours. Yeah, at first
we felt.

Speaker 7 (07:52):
Like it was time. Yeah, you know when when we
were looking at.

Speaker 9 (07:55):
The podcast space, it started out for us as just,
you know, two friends who happened to be married, just
joking on each other about what it's like.

Speaker 7 (08:03):
Being a husband and a wife in the marriage.

Speaker 9 (08:05):
Yeah, and what we noticed over time was that that
conversation kind of went on a tangent and now the
whole internet is talking about the fifty to fifty man
versus woman. So Kadeina and I kind of like, we
don't want to be a part of that conversation because
we worked better together.

Speaker 7 (08:20):
Yes, so let's let's change things up a little bit.

Speaker 9 (08:22):
So we was like, what what would the podcast space
look like after, you know, since now we're happily ever after?

Speaker 7 (08:30):
Oh wait, what about Ellis ever after? And that's how the.

Speaker 8 (08:33):
Red Blink came Upuck, it did, and I mean with
dead ass doing it for so many seasons and so
many years in that capacity, the conversations grew. Yeah, you know,
Kadeenan Devallo season one, two, three even are not Kadeian
Devaluacy now, right, So it feels like the natural elevation
for us.

Speaker 6 (08:52):
And to be quite honest.

Speaker 8 (08:53):
After our last sold out tour, Love against the World
last February, we were ready to kind of retire them
and the podcast, you know, kind of ending on a
high note, right. We felt like we did everything that
we needed to do in the podcast space, and after
pulling some supporters of ours, they were like, absolutely not.

Speaker 6 (09:13):
If you guys need to get it together, right, It's
like I'm told you to do that. No one, no
one has for this, No one has for this.

Speaker 8 (09:18):
So then we're like, all right, if we do do it,
how can we elevate the experience for our listeners and
our viewers because we are so in debt to people
who listen to us every single week and they deserve
to have some excellent content. So yeah, Ellis ever After
is going to show the progression, the elevation. We've also
added in some staples who have always been a part
of our podcast. Family so trible. Our producer Josh and Matt,

(09:42):
who do all of our content, are now going to
be on the show as well to get their two
cents as well about different topics. So it's going to
be a really really good time.

Speaker 6 (09:50):
I love it. And we're talking about topics. What are
we focusing on? I know you mentioned you know, the
progression and what conversations you want to be a part of,
But if you could put into words, what are the
topics that we primarily want to focus on.

Speaker 9 (10:02):
Supporting generational wealth and what that looks like. You know,
this is an intergenerational podcast. We talk about a generational
trauma from our parents that we that have been passed
down to us that we are now trying to not
pass down to our children. So now the conversation we
want to shift and we don't want to do the bickering.
Let's talk about communicating properly and how we can build
better as us people.

Speaker 8 (10:22):
Yeah, so for our people who have listened for all
these years, they're still going to get the dead ass experience.
We're keeping a lot of the components that have been
there already, for example, storytime, karaoke, you know, moment of truth.
But we do have some new segments that we're going
to add in. One of the vast favors that he
kind of came up with.

Speaker 9 (10:39):
It's called op or no op ooh, And what it
is is op is opinion. So you know how you
go through your listener letters or what is it to
be the room or mail?

Speaker 6 (10:48):
What's going on in social media topics?

Speaker 9 (10:50):
Well, what we want to start asking people to do
is ask yourself, Am I educated.

Speaker 7 (10:56):
Enough to have an opinion on this topic? Yes? Or no?

Speaker 9 (11:00):
Or do I really want to? Because everyone doesn't have
to have an opinion. So we go through the hot
topics and it's like do we have an opinion or
knowing this? And sometimes it's like, nah, that's about like,
you know, Kanye West is getting a divorce, you have
an opinion? No, I don't know what's going on in
a relationship that's not affecting me anyway, so I don't
have an opinion past Yeah, you know, let's.

Speaker 7 (11:17):
Start that trend.

Speaker 8 (11:19):
Let's see yeah, because so much of what we've done,
I think kind have created a blueprint for folks with podcasting. Right,
So we're like, all right, we started this whole battle
of the sexist thing kind of indirectly.

Speaker 6 (11:28):
So we're liked. Did it start here with us?

Speaker 10 (11:31):
I don't know.

Speaker 8 (11:31):
But let's try something else, something that can try to
elevate everyone's life experience.

Speaker 6 (11:35):
Where we all just mind our own business.

Speaker 8 (11:37):
Yeah, about that, think about the things that we truly
know about.

Speaker 6 (11:41):
It makes a lot that's gonna be kind of fun.
Oh yeah, it's gonna be fun. People will love to
see it. People would want to see it. So a
lot of great content is coming. You're excuse me, their
way specifically, and you're talking about minding your business, but
I'm about to be all up in your business open invitation. Yes, absolutely,
because we we love knowing about your relationship specifically. And

(12:02):
you mentioned this a little bit earlier. You talked about
communication and changing that and bettering that. I remember seeing
an interview from a few years ago. You guys had
different communication styles to begin with, and then you know,
found a balance, found a path that works best for you.

Speaker 7 (12:15):
Guys.

Speaker 6 (12:16):
Talk to me more about that and how you were
able to find that balance between the two.

Speaker 9 (12:21):
Well, the biggest thing was just understanding that you need
empathy for whoever you're sitting across from. It doesn't matter
if he's your spouse, your business partner, or sibling. You
have to understand that that person is going through something
just like you are. A lot of times in relationships,
you want to communicate by getting your point across. A
large part of communication is listening, and I think over
the past fifteen years of us being together, I've learned

(12:43):
how to listen better. And I hope that people realize
that because even when I listened to myself on the podcast,
I'm like, dang, seven years ago, I wasn't listening to
anything K was saying. I was just trying to win
the argument. Yeah, and I can go back and be like, then,
I've grown a lot from that, and I.

Speaker 7 (12:57):
Hope other people can say, wow, it has changed a lot.

Speaker 8 (13:00):
Yeah, and echoing that sentiment I'm listening for sure has
been a big thing for me as an active listener.
But also you realize intent versus impact. Right when you communicate,
it's like how you say something, the way you say it,
the way it's delivered. Sometimes it's not the way you
intended for it to be. So the impact hits or
lands that person on that person differently. So we've learned
within our communication styles. Because I grew up in a

(13:23):
household where communication was great on a surface level, but
when it came time to like disagreements or problems, a
lot of it was ignored. So within our own relationship,
I had to learn how to open up more. And
a VALENTN said, Okay, if I'm going to tell you something,
my intent is this, I'm so sorry it impacted you
this way. And then we talk about how maybe the

(13:43):
message got misconstrued or you know, it was delivered in
a way that was not receivable.

Speaker 6 (13:50):
You know, for me, my.

Speaker 9 (13:51):
Biggest thing, well, I knew my intent. Since I knew
my intent, no matter how it impacted her, I used
to make her feel like she was wrong for I
would have made her feel And that's when I realized, like,
you can't communicate like that, Like I can't judge you
for how what I said make you feel, make you
feel less than by saying you're not supposed to feel
that way. So I'm glad you brought up in tent
for his impact that that really is a big one.

Speaker 8 (14:12):
And then I also learned that I, like he's not
a mind reader, I'm going to have to actually vocalize
and eloquently express how I feel in moments so that
way he can then understand where I'm coming from, you know,
and not defend necessarily what he said, but we can
come to some kind of common ground. We've promoted that
a lot throughout our years on Dead Ass, and that's
going to continue on and l's ever after love.

Speaker 6 (14:33):
A lot of growth there from the two of you. Guys, know,
I love you, try absolutely, And you're talking about like
things you have learned. What would you, guys say would
be the biggest lesson you guys have learned in your
relationship thus far?

Speaker 7 (14:45):
Ooh, I'm the biggest lesson that I've learned.

Speaker 8 (14:49):
And I think for me since we've been together since
we were eighteen years old, that's almost October will be
twenty three years together. So growing as individuals also trying
to do it collectively as partners was a struggle for
some years, and mainly because we loved each other so
much that we knew we wanted to be together. We

(15:09):
just didn't know how to navigate that through all of
life's seasons, right, So you're growing through different changes, him
retiring from the nfl US, moving back to Brooklyn, starting over,
having our first child. Then it was two and three,
really quickly, then moving cross country, then move It's just
all of the things that we've had to navigate within
our relationship has really forced us to lock in together

(15:31):
as a couple, to give each other grace and just
know that we're going to grow and we're going to change,
and we support the change, and we consider each other
with the change as well. And giving each other the
latitude to do that has been super important, at least
for me over the years to maintain a strong and
healthy relationship.

Speaker 9 (15:49):
That was good and it actually fed me into my
What it taught me was not to have a standard
for what I think manhood is supposed to be based
on everyone else's standards. I have to find out what
manhood is to me first. I have to then speak
to my wife and say, what does manhood look for you?
And if we work on that same thing together, then

(16:11):
that's the manhood I want to portray. In the past,
it was my friends, my dad, everyone said manhood looks
like this, So I have to participate.

Speaker 7 (16:19):
In my marriage that way.

Speaker 9 (16:21):
And it was not working because that version of the
vou wasn't the de vo she wanted. She wanted a
different version. And then I realized that that version of
the vow wasn't even the version I wanted.

Speaker 6 (16:31):
It wasn't authentic to you.

Speaker 7 (16:32):
It wasn't.

Speaker 9 (16:32):
So I learned how to ignore all the noise and
focus on here and focus on what God has for us,
and that's helped us a lot.

Speaker 7 (16:40):
That's the biggest lesson.

Speaker 6 (16:41):
Yeah, those are beautiful lessons that people, honestly can really
take with them and learn from, especially when they're starting
off in their own relationships. Yeah, my gay for sure.

Speaker 8 (16:48):
And that's what the podcast has been to us. I mean,
that's another reason why we were kind of I don't
want to say bullied into continuing it, but.

Speaker 6 (16:54):
We need we need this.

Speaker 8 (16:57):
People will come up to us randomly and say, oh,
my goodness, we're so happy that you guys are continuing
the podcast. Or I learned this from you guys, or
you saved my marriage, or you helped me speak to
my spouse in.

Speaker 6 (17:06):
A better way.

Speaker 8 (17:07):
Like it's just so many good moments, and it's this
positive feedback that we've gotten and it's really just from
us talking out our own life experience real yeah, in
real time.

Speaker 9 (17:17):
Like Yeah, I used to sit back and listen to
some of the podcasts and be like I didn't realize
that I came across like that.

Speaker 7 (17:23):
And sometimes you need to hear that.

Speaker 9 (17:25):
You know you're in this space. You listen to yourself
and you're like, wow, I didn't know I sounded like that.
It's almost like a check.

Speaker 7 (17:31):
You need that mirror.

Speaker 9 (17:32):
You hold that mirror up and you're like, I check
yourself because you thought she was listening, but you wasn't listening.

Speaker 6 (17:38):
And really quickly, I know we have to get on
AUTI here, but I want to do thank you so
much for that.

Speaker 7 (17:43):
I'm actually enjoying it and get.

Speaker 6 (17:45):
Goohead well, thank you. Thank I appreciate that coming from
you know, people who know the game, you know the deal.

Speaker 7 (17:50):
We got this. I'm gonna say this on camera, can
see it. Yes.

Speaker 9 (17:53):
The very first question she asked was how do you
pronounce your name? A lot of people don't even ask
that question because they've never been to journalism school. They
don't understand the importance.

Speaker 7 (18:02):
The fact that you.

Speaker 9 (18:03):
Went to school to study this made me feel comfortable.
But then you asked different questions. We've been doing press.

Speaker 7 (18:09):
For two days and we get the same questions.

Speaker 9 (18:11):
They're not thought out. No one really wants to know.
They just want to sit down.

Speaker 7 (18:15):
Right, These are.

Speaker 8 (18:16):
Good questions because I'm thinking, because journalism is a lost form.
I feel like nowaday is okay?

Speaker 6 (18:21):
Hello?

Speaker 8 (18:21):
Anyone with a camera and the microphone is like reporting.

Speaker 6 (18:24):
Yeah what eat? No facts, no thought. So we appreciate you,
thank you? Okay, great, So I'm going to ask some questions.
I know it's you know we over me, but I
want you versus me on these questions for these games.
All right, this is the game. I love to close
out with the little games with this. All right, you're

(18:47):
just going to see but it's you or if it's
your partner, say their name or point to them or
you know, say what you want to say.

Speaker 7 (18:52):
I love it.

Speaker 6 (18:53):
Who is most likely to plan a spontaneous romantic getaway?

Speaker 7 (18:58):
Well?

Speaker 9 (18:58):
Absolutely, as soon as you said get way, I.

Speaker 5 (19:03):
Love you.

Speaker 6 (19:03):
Gotta have a little trip sometimes baby or two?

Speaker 11 (19:06):
All right.

Speaker 6 (19:06):
Who is most likely to initiate a cuddle session?

Speaker 7 (19:09):
Cuddle?

Speaker 6 (19:10):
Oh, cuddle. It depends on where the cuddle is going
the progressive got gotta got it. Who is most likely
to try a new food? Went out? Oh man, okay,
come on something okay? Who misses the kids first? Went
on vacation? Really like you?

Speaker 3 (19:33):
You.

Speaker 7 (19:33):
The first one to be like no, you know.

Speaker 6 (19:35):
Would be FACETI okay, I'm on the phone. Yeah, and
I'm right behind him, right behind, right behind, right right
right there. Sometimes someone will verbalize first, yeah, okay, who
I love that though, it's great. Who is likely to
spend more money? What are you shopping? What are you buying?

Speaker 1 (19:58):
What are you buying?

Speaker 7 (19:58):
Troops?

Speaker 6 (20:00):
That's port the money?

Speaker 8 (20:02):
Food? Because we have to feed four kids? He recently said,
why is the personal American Express bill so high?

Speaker 12 (20:07):
So?

Speaker 6 (20:07):
Have you seen the cross of eggs lately?

Speaker 8 (20:09):
Have you seen these grocery prices that he does not
go to the supermarket?

Speaker 6 (20:12):
I do so yeah, okay, it makes a lot of
love it. Who was most likely to forget to pay
a bill?

Speaker 13 (20:20):
Me?

Speaker 6 (20:20):
Okay, yeah, okay, so money somebody account every morning morning,
every morning balances right? I love it?

Speaker 8 (20:28):
Dollars and maybe hello okay?

Speaker 6 (20:32):
Who was most likely to laugh at the wrong moment?

Speaker 9 (20:40):
And your sister forget about it? And if it's me
and my brother and sister forget about it?

Speaker 6 (20:44):
Okay, what's what I think? If we're together and it's.

Speaker 7 (20:47):
A wrong moment together in one moment.

Speaker 8 (20:49):
You yeah said at all?

Speaker 6 (20:53):
Yeah, we're my emotion, my face. I love it. Who
was most likely to forget where they park?

Speaker 7 (21:03):
I don't forget anything.

Speaker 6 (21:04):
I guess I'll take that, but I'm spoiled by the little.

Speaker 7 (21:08):
I'm on security detail at all time.

Speaker 6 (21:10):
Okay, always makes sense. And lastly, who is most likely
to binge a show in one day?

Speaker 7 (21:18):
That's me? Yeah, I love yeah, favor me and Mandel
sit down and watch right now.

Speaker 9 (21:23):
My favorite show is well, I'm going to say sisters
in the team, but I watched Paradise.

Speaker 8 (21:32):
It's very good and we love us Sterling he's great.

Speaker 6 (21:37):
Yeah, Survival that's like my new favorite right now. When
I want to treadmill and I'm like, just.

Speaker 8 (21:42):
Fly by some episodes, that's a lot of so and
we are here surviving right.

Speaker 6 (21:47):
Hello, Hello in Paradise to period. I love it. I
love it well Devell and Cadeen, thank you guys so
much for coming into the stadium. It's a pleasure. Wait
to be back. Yes, thank you so much for having us.
Yeah absolutely back soonish yes soonish.

Speaker 7 (22:05):
Wait on deadline drops and you.

Speaker 6 (22:09):
Can go talk tot's have the team circle back with you.
You love it absolutely speaking up deadlines and things dropping.
When does this next season. The podcast air April sixteenth.

Speaker 7 (22:18):
You can listen wherever you catch your podcast.

Speaker 9 (22:21):
iHeart Radio, Spotify doesn't matter, but you can watch it
the following week following Monday, which would be the twenty
first I believe on YouTube.

Speaker 6 (22:30):
Yes, I love it. How long you follow the podcast?
And you guys as well on your journeys.

Speaker 8 (22:35):
Yeah, so the podcast page on socials will be Ellis
ever after podcast. You can find me at Kadeen I
am so it's my first name. I am and I
am Devo.

Speaker 7 (22:45):
And if you're listening on Apple, oh no.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
I'm so used to. I love its rate reviewing and subscribe.

Speaker 8 (22:55):
Love it.

Speaker 6 (22:56):
I love it. Thank you guys, So thank you for coming.
Last one.

Speaker 8 (22:59):
We're gonna say, grab your copy of weee over Me
if you have it. It's still out there in bookstores everywhere.
Amazon has it. It's all over the place.

Speaker 7 (23:05):
And once again, thank you for having me.

Speaker 6 (23:07):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you. Awesome time. Yeah, absolutely happy to
have you out in the studio once again. Alexandria Caimoni iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Thanks, Alexandra Deval and Cadeen b I and anchor Mimi
Brown is back with a special bonus episode of to
Altadena with love. In this conversation, she sits down with
doctor Brent Mussen, a three time Altadena Town Council member,
public policy specialist, and expert in equitable community development. They

(23:34):
talk about the policies that shaped Altadena, the challenges black
homeowners have faced for generations, and what rebuildings should look
like as a result of the fire that devastated a
historic black neighborhood in California.

Speaker 12 (23:47):
So, doctor Munson, let's take it back to the beginning.
Talk to me about your upbringing in Altadena and what
made it so special to you.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Sure, as a kid, I didn't know anything different. It's
just kind of where I grew up and went to
church there, raised a family there. I wasn't really until
I sort of broadened my horizons, before I realized that
Altadena had a reputation. You know, it was kind of
the bogie the bougie place, right, And you know it's

(24:17):
not how I remember it, but that's how that's the
reputation I had. But over the years, I've also been
involved in all sorts of service in Altadena, and from
the service perspective, you get to see a broad, sort
of a broad portrait of what the what the place
really is. I'm sure you've heard that eighty one percent

(24:38):
of the black residents there own their homes. That's about
twice what it is in places like Atlanta.

Speaker 12 (24:44):
Twice what it is in Atlanta. I did not know that.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think the reason I brought that
stat up in a question about what it was like
for me being there is that it's all sort of intertwined.
What was normal to me was a middle class and
upper class Black community, and that was that's really sort

(25:09):
of typified by some of those stats, those census tract
stats that you know that kind of describe who we
who we were. Most of my friends graduated from college.
A large proportion of them also went on to do
master's degrees or terminal degrees, and that was normal.

Speaker 12 (25:29):
So that was I love that that was normal for
the area.

Speaker 6 (25:32):
So let's go back.

Speaker 12 (25:33):
Let's talk about the early origins of out Aadena and
paint a full picture. What should people understand about how
this community first came to be.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Sure, So John Woodbury founded Altadena. At that time, it
was mostly this open land. He bought an awful lot
of land, founded the town. It wasn't until much later
that we start to see a real black population, mostly

(26:03):
in the mid century when houses became available after a
fair Housing Act and so forth. So you know, that's
sort of the real growth of African Americans. But the
draw for African Americans specifically to Altadena goes back to
Harper's Ferry. So John Brown led a raid of Harper's Ferry.

(26:27):
The idea was to take it was the armory. There
was to take the the the weapons from the armory
and give them the slaves and to allow them to
fight their way out of slavery. Didn't go so well
for the raiders for the most part, they were most
of them were killed. John Brown himself actually escaped but

(26:50):
was then executed, was hanged. His two sons moved to Altadena,
and so Owen Brown was his older son, who was
also a very well known abolitionist, sort of to Altadena.
But that set the tone of Altadena as a place
that was sort of friendly to or at least had

(27:11):
an understanding of the plight of African Americans. It didn't
necessarily change everything in Altadena, but at least it created
a beacon effect in Altadena.

Speaker 12 (27:21):
So what time period was this, that's eighteen hundred.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
As matter of fact, the raid on Harper's Ferry is
arguably the most important historical event that sort of sparked
the Civil War. It was almost it created a lot
of sort of paramilitary conflict between Union, the Union and
the Confederacy, and it was sort of almost like a

(27:46):
setup for the Civil War.

Speaker 12 (27:49):
So why do you think so few people know this story?
Why isn't Altadena more widely recognized for this rich history?

Speaker 3 (27:58):
So history is written by the victors, and so to
understand what the fight is really for. And so if
we understand that the fight is for power, influence, control
of resources, control of labor, et cetera, then we understand
why that history isn't part of the narrative.

Speaker 12 (28:17):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's so true.

Speaker 3 (28:20):
Yeah, Altadena is sort of sandwich between Pasadena and the Foothills.
So most people sort of think of it as a
as an extension of Pasadena, and it's kind of the
way that it was was founded. But the folks that
have been through there and that have lived there, I'll
read off of this, Octavia Butler, Sidney Poitier, Jackie Robbinson,

(28:44):
the baseball player Elgis Cleaver, had a McDaniel, Jane Kennedy.
There's a much longer list than that, but those are
just some names that that will immediately ring a bell.
Those people all lived in Altadena and not you know,
just moved in there for a year. You know, they
lived there. Was the you know, it was a core
of black culture and black excellence. If you can imagine

(29:08):
these people had addresses there. You can imagine who came
in and out of Altadena. So Altadena was was not
an unknown place. But the history of Altadena is quickly
forgotten in today's zeitgeist. That shouldn't be confused with it
being forgotten by Altadenans who lived there and people who

(29:31):
are associated. So people who live in Altadena understand how
special it is. People who grew up there understand how
special it is, and also the County of Los Angeles
understands how special it is. I think that when I
was on council and I was advocating for Altadena, it
was probably the easiest, easiest job ever, was just to
bring up a need in Altadena, and it was it
was you know, it was a dressed in one way

(29:52):
or another.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
You know.

Speaker 12 (29:54):
So in episode two we touched on redlining. But now
that I have you here, I want to go a
little deeper. Can you break down how redlining shaped the
Alta Dina we know today?

Speaker 3 (30:05):
So redlining was made, was found to be unconstitutional nationwide,
didn't mean that it stopped. It just meant that the
law was on the side of African American families that
wanted to buy. But it still took an advocate realtor

(30:25):
to actually sell you property. African Americans weren't allowed to
have licenses, so there were no African American realtors selling
property in Altadena West or East. But a realtor named
Vernice Roberts was sort of was a champion of equity

(30:45):
in home ownership, and so she would set up ways
for African Americans to buy homes. I don't know if
it was sus straw buyers. I would assume that that's
probably part of it. The history is sort of sketchy
on exactly how she pulled it off, but she was
instrumental in getting you know, black ownership of homes now,
the idea of East Altadina versus West Authadena. Anyone who

(31:07):
grew up there like me, knows that West Authadena is
the black sided town and East south Adena is It's not.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
To hear the full episode and catch up on the
entire five part series. Search to Alta Dina with Love
wherever you get your podcasts, or visit to Alta Dina
with Love dot com. As you know, hypertension and kidney
disease are often paired together and affect thousands of lives
in the Black community, but there are some who suffer

(31:34):
from kidney failure due to a little known genetic factor
that connects to the continent of Africa. The Black Information
That Works. Ester Dillard talks to an NBA superstar who
is raising awareness about it on this week's The Color
Between the Lines.

Speaker 10 (31:53):
On this edition of The Color Between the Lines.

Speaker 13 (31:55):
Esther, let me tell you it was a very humbling
and devastating moment for mepcially at that point in my life.

Speaker 10 (32:01):
I talked to NBA superstar Alonzo mourning about his battle
with kidney disease at the height of his career. He
joined with the American Kidney Fund to raise awareness about
a genetic condition connected to African ancestry that many people
have never heard about. I'm Esther Dillard chatting with writers,

(32:24):
authors and experts who offer an added perspective for listeners.
This is the color between the lines. April twenty nine
is AMKD Awareness Day, and this is a specific genetic
connection to kidney disease and those who have ancestry from

(32:50):
certain regions in Africa. Now this really intrigued me because
I have a personal connection to kidney disease. My mom
she was on dialysis for years. My uncle and I
had an aunt that were also on dialysis for years
after experiencing kidney failure. So it was intriguing to me
to find out more about this AMKD Awareness Day and

(33:12):
what it was all about. Joining me is Laverne Addison Burton,
President and Chief executive Officer of the American Kidney Fund,
and NBA Champion Alonzo Morning, who is now a kidney
health advocate. Thank you so much, both of you for
joining us on the BION.

Speaker 11 (33:30):
Thank you, thank you for having us well.

Speaker 10 (33:33):
I'd like to start at the top, Miss Burton, for
listeners who may not have this might be the first
time that they've ever heard of something called AMKD. Can
you explain what this is and why is it so
important for black and brown communities to be aware of this.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 11 (33:49):
AMKD stands for April l one medi ety kidney disease.
It's a genetic form of kidney disease and it's called
by caused by mutations or in your genes. Each of
us has two apo L genes. We probably didn't know that.
I know, I didn't know it until we started talking
about this subject. But if you have variants or mutations

(34:12):
in both of them, it puts you at risk for
a very fast progressing form of kidney disease, and that's
the AMKD. This disease can progress very quickly, can lead
to kidney failure, and so it's really important that we
detected early and get people into treatment. Now why is

(34:32):
it so important to the black and brown community, Well,
people who have ancestors from Western and Central Africa are
the people with whom this disease occurs. And so if
you are African American or call yourself Black or Afro Caribbean,
or Latina or Latino, it puts you at higher risk

(34:54):
for this disease. And the numbers are pretty high in
this country. About thirteen percent of lack Americans have two
of these gene mutations in the apol L one genes,
and that's the population that we're looking at and of
that thirteen percent, about one in five of those people
will develop kidney disease, and many of them will go

(35:16):
on to kidney failure. So you can see it's it's
really important that we that we identify this and that
we do something to treat it, to slow it, to
slow it down. That's why we've teamed up with Alonzo
and are working with many others to try to increase
awareness of what we call April l one Aware, so

(35:40):
that you know what your risks are, so that you
know who this disease is coming after. And in fact,
last year we started an amk D Day. AMKD is
the short of all those letters, and amk D Day,
the second observance of that day will be next Tuesday,
April twenty nine. Alonzo is just a great example of

(36:02):
how somebody has handled this disease and done so really
just very very effectively.

Speaker 10 (36:08):
Oh, you can't get a nice transition, you know, Alonso,
You've shared a powerful story of being diagnosed at the
height of your career.

Speaker 6 (36:16):
Can you take us back to that moment?

Speaker 10 (36:18):
What was going on with your health and how did
you how did this diagnosis all unfold?

Speaker 13 (36:24):
Yes, sir, let me tell you, it was a very
humbling and devastating moment for me, especially at that point
in my life. You know, I was thirty years old,
you know, I was at the top of the world,
of the basketball world. I was feeling great, you know,
just one you know, Defensive Player of the Year, All Star,
what have you. You know, I was. I was a

(36:45):
picture of health, and I'm competing in the Olympics for
a gold medal, and and then I started and just
not feeling well, you know. And as professional athletes, we're
told to suck it up, get back out there, You'll
be okay. As men, as black men, growing up, you're
told to be tough it out, you know. So that's

(37:08):
been embedded in my DNA for years. So I just
kept going, and I know, the swelling and letter g
quite a bit. And then I continued to play in
the gold medal game, we won the gold medal. Coming
home about to take my preseason physical, and I told

(37:28):
that doc I wasn't feeling well. And then they noticed
some abnormalities in my body chemistries through blood work. They
compared it from to previous years, past years, and they
sent me to a nephrologist, which I didn't even know
what a kidney doctor was, and they recommended that I

(37:50):
had a biopsy and come to find out I had
FSGS vocal segmental bloom very little carosis. It's a disease
that scars the filters of the kidney, which I later
learned was a form of a m k D, a
po l one mediated kidney disease, you know. So, which
is why, you know, we're trying to do our best

(38:14):
to make sure our country, especially your audience, is aware
people of color, because black people are Black Americas are
four times more likely to have kidney faith and some
of the causes of excess of kidney failure genetic.

Speaker 2 (38:36):
Like we learned through like we learned through.

Speaker 13 (38:41):
Yes, yes, yeah, I'm assuming that it was, but we
never I never identified, uh, the person in my family
that had kidney disease. You know. So we talking, we
talk about, you know, the the regions in Africa that
this is derived from. We talk about that, and then

(39:02):
you think about Black Americans and how we carry those gets,
you know, and unfortunately and carrying those particular variants, they
lie dormant in your body until something triggers it, which
in turn, that's what happened to me. There was lying
dormant in my body and I had two of those variants,
and come to find out, I ended up having these

(39:25):
genetic variants which affected my kidney kidneys. And also high
blood pressure and diabetes are very rampant in our community.
You know, we carry a lot of those statistics, high
statistics of high blood pressure and diabetes which affect our
kidneys as well. But the long and short of it,
what we're trying to encourage people to do is take

(39:48):
charge of their health. Be proactive. Just like I got
my physical preseason physical, Go to the doctor and get
your physical. You know, if you feel something wrong all
we feel something a little abnormal, don't try to suck
it up, get out, take charge of health and go
to the doctor. And then another thing is we're trying
to tear down the narrative of first of all, that

(40:13):
people especially men, don't go to the doctor. We're trying
to change that narrative, you know. And then also we
understand there's a mistrust in the healthcare system where we
don't go to the doctor because you know, doctors don't
look like us. We're not we're not or open to
to really being transparent with our doctors, you know, so

(40:34):
it's important for us to try to do a little
bit better as it pertains to that.

Speaker 11 (40:39):
Yeah, I mean, you know, our health is it's very
very personal, and we are the only ones who can
really be responsible for that. And that's why you know,
this opportunity to talk with you today esther to have
Alonzo along with me and to you know, and to
really call attention that here's somebody at the peak of health.
I mean, you know, Olympic level athlete. You can't think

(41:02):
of somebody who's healthier and something is going on in
his body that he doesn't know about until suddenly he
doesn't feel so well. But he has the opportunity to
follow up, and he does, and once he follows up,
he takes charge. So what we're trying to do is
awareness is number one, education is number two, and action

(41:25):
is number three. So you know, what we're talking about today,
what we're going to be talking about the next several days,
is increasing awareness about this disease. We are. You know,
we've got information on our website. Alonzo has information on
his website so that people can drill down a little
bit more into the details of it and then that

(41:46):
action step of talking to your health care provider. And
if you you know, especially if you've got kidney disease
or you've got a family history of kidney disease and
you are associated, you know, with ancestors from these parts
of of of Africa, you need to think about whether
or not I'm gonna do genetic testing here and talk

(42:06):
to your doctor about that. That was the next step
that Alonzo Alonzo took. And then you know, and then
you go on to what's the what is available to me?
You know, is it management of the disease? Is it uh,
you know, transplant or whatever.

Speaker 10 (42:23):
I wanted you to talk a little bit about the screening.
How do you how does a person determine, you know,
one that they need to be screened? And then two
how is that going to be an expensive process for
someone who may not have that kind of cash in
order to get that done?

Speaker 6 (42:41):
There are low.

Speaker 11 (42:41):
Cost forms and I assume when you say screening, you're
talking about the genetic screening. Now there are low cost
forms of genetic testing, and you know, talking with your
healthcare professional, depending upon your community, they may even be
able to identify some that may even be be no
cost but you cannot find out the answer to that
unless you ask the question, and that's the first step.

(43:04):
We want people to be asking the questions. And that's
why the information that we're providing is so important that
when you go in to see your healthcare professional, that
you're armed with the questions that you need to ask
to try to drill down. If you've got a long
history of kidney disease and kidney failure and your family,

(43:26):
I think you have to consider the possibility that there
might be an underlying genetic cause. There are other causes
as well. We talked about, you know, high blood pressure
and diabetes being the leading causes. We talked about problems
with the healthcare system and the fact that there are
issues of trust in terms of sometimes how our community

(43:47):
deals with with with with doctors. But we've got to
work through those and what we want to do is
give people information that will help them work through, help
them ask the questions that get to the bottom of
what's going on. Because when you walk out of that
doctor's office, it's your life and so and so it
has to be more than no matter what else is

(44:09):
going on, has to be your responsibility to try to
get to the bottom to find out whether or not
genetic testing is the right thing for you, and then
if that's the case, you know, I go back to
a Lonzo's story where he talks about the fact that
someone in his family stepped forward and he never had
to go on dialysis because he knew earlier enough that

(44:32):
he could do that.

Speaker 13 (44:37):
Knowledge is power, Yeah, it really is, you know. So
I'm encouraging all your listeners to educate themselves, speaking with
their doctor, trying to find all the information that they
can in order to take the right steps, you know.
And a lot of that right step for me was
getting genetically tested, you know, and participating in that type

(44:58):
of research was a way that I could potentially help
more people living with a m k D. You know.
So as we continue and continue to have people get
genetically tested, as we continue to do it, and as
they speak to doctors, you know, and go through the process,

(45:20):
I really feel that we, you know, we're taking steps
towards finding a cure. One day.

Speaker 7 (45:28):
Did you find that?

Speaker 6 (45:29):
Really the key here?

Speaker 10 (45:31):
And I think I'm stealing this from another interview I
heard you talking on You were talking about the relationship
that you have with your doctor. Some people just don't
have that kind of relationship with a doctor. Do you
think that was key?

Speaker 13 (45:47):
It's well, it's very key, you know, and I'll tell
you Esther. You know, it's there's a healthy fear. You know,
it's okay to be scared, you know.

Speaker 7 (45:58):
I was.

Speaker 13 (45:59):
I'm listen, six two hundred and sixty pounds a muscle,
and you know, I'm not afraid of too many things.
But I was scared, you know. And you know what
I did was just ask questions that I needed to ask,
you know, and I knew that I couldn't wait for
nobody to do it for me. I had to do

(46:20):
it myself, you know. So you got to take charge
of your health. You got to ask the question and
do what you need to do. From that perspective, find
a doctee that you're comfortable with, be transparent. We know
the history of mistrust and what have you of doctors
and what have you. You know, but but find one,
Just find one you can trust. Go to enoughrologist, which

(46:44):
is extremely important, you know, and a lot of us
don't know what a lot of nethroligies see it's a
kidney doctor. Go to aenoughrologist, and you know, and get
your checkups, and do what you need to do from
that perspective, you know, but you can't just not do
anything and leave it to chance. You just can't do that,

(47:05):
which a lot of us do. We wait to it
escalates until it gets worse, and then, you know, Black
Americans are less likely to be referred to an aphrologist
until the later stages of kidney disease. So it's important
that we start this process a little bit earlier.

Speaker 7 (47:24):
Yeah, yeah, And.

Speaker 11 (47:26):
Something else I want to emphasize that Alonzo just said,
which was you can't.

Speaker 7 (47:30):
Just do nothing.

Speaker 11 (47:31):
If you have early stages of kidney disease and you
do nothing, it is going to progress, and if you
live long enough, you're going to end up in kidney
failure where your only options are going to be transplant
or dialysis.

Speaker 10 (47:46):
Can you tell our audience where they can get this
information and what are some of those because I'm sure
that they have a lot of questions. What questions should
I ask? Where should they go?

Speaker 11 (47:56):
We're going to give two sources. I'm going to say
kidneyfund dot org backslash AMKD. That's the American Kidney Fund's website.
Lots of information they are on kidney disease and on
AMKD and then Alonzo and then I'm.

Speaker 13 (48:13):
Going to say Power Forward Together. That's Power Forward Together
dot com and you'll find a ton of information testimonials
for me on there. And we also have information on
there on teaching people how to communicate with doctors, because

(48:34):
I'm gonna tell you there's a lot of people that
once they get in the doctor's office, they get a
little petrified and they don't know how to talk to doctors.
They don't know what questions I ask. So this website,
you know, gives you the right questions to help you
navigate through your visit at the doctor's office.

Speaker 7 (48:54):
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 10 (48:55):
That's it for this edition of The Color Between the Lines.
If this conversation inspired you or encourage you in any way,
please subscribe to The Color Between the Lines podcast on
the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 6 (49:08):
I'm Ester Dillard.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
Thanks Esther.

Speaker 1 (49:12):
Doug Davis is back with another segment of Your Black Business.
We'll hear from a black entrepreneur who's built a groundbreaking
ride share app that's striving, but the struggle to secure
the capital needed is getting in the way of him
reaching the next level of success.

Speaker 14 (49:28):
Doug Hey, this is Doug Davis and welcome back to
Your Black Business, where we share stories of black entrepreneurs
and their success stories and some of the challenges they face.
We're back with Carrie Brown, a visionary entrepreneur behind the
black Wolf app, a ride share service redefining safety and
security in transportation. With the background in security and a
commitment to protecting passengers, Carrie has built a company that

(49:51):
goes beyond getting people from point A to point B.
As a black entrepreneur, he's navigated the challenges of the
business world. Carrie, Welcome back to the b Yah, Sir.
We were previously talking about the difficulty surrounding black owned
businesses and gating capital. Your ride share app is now
in five states, but your biggest challenge is to get

(50:12):
enough investment money for your app to be in all
fifty states. You share that you've been interviewed on top
news outlets like Fox and CNN, Forbes magazine, you name it.
But still that's obviously not enough. But before we get
into more of that, let's jump into why you created
the black Wolf Safety and Protection ride share app. What

(50:33):
led you to carve out such a niche.

Speaker 15 (50:35):
The foundation is human trafficking. I had a client that
I had for two and a half years. She was
human trafficked for three and a half years. When I
got to her, she didn't want to talk to any
type of man. I couldn't shake her hand, no hug,
no nothing. And I drove her from her house to
work every single day. That was my contract. It was

(50:56):
doing ep executive protection, protecting her magician when it would
grab her again, another thing would come to her and
harm her. The last two months that I had this contract,
she fleecehed me. She finally broke down and said, you're
the first male I've ever felt comfortable around from what
I've been through. So the last day she says, I

(51:17):
need you to create some form of transportation for people
like me and my daughter. She goes, promise me you
will create something. So in that arena, in my thought,
I'm like, what can I create? Like transportation? Like what
should I do? So I started doing my research transportation, limbo, livery,
car pulling, whatever whatever the case was. And I was
hunting for something because again this woman said promise me,

(51:40):
and I promised her and it started formation security and
it just evolved into what people know today is the
black Wull fact. So that is the foundation of the
Black Wull fat And why I even started it?

Speaker 2 (51:52):
What year was that when you created the app?

Speaker 15 (51:55):
The app was created in believe it or not, it
was created in twenty twenty one.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
How'd you get them need to get to start? How
did it all come together?

Speaker 15 (52:02):
It was it was all my money. You know, I'm
very good at saving. I've done a lot of work.
You know, when I was overseas, I just saved a
lot of money, and I did it myself. I didn't
I didn't reach out to anybody because at that time
I didn't know I didn't know whether to reach out
to somebody. I thought I could do it myself. It
was just a transportation business, right. So when I started
to stumble upon apps, and I'm like, okay, it doesn't

(52:24):
cost that much. I've seen one hundred and fifty thousand,
two hundred and fifty thousand, and I found a company
that like, if you put up twenty or twenty five thousand,
they can build it out for you. Right, So you
kind of start on like in a white label format.

Speaker 14 (52:39):
Right right, Okay, gotcha? And so you know you found
the app. You know, you use your own money. Were
there any legal challenges that you had to kind of
adhere to.

Speaker 3 (52:51):
Being that you know you are?

Speaker 14 (52:53):
You know, positioning yourself as a kind of like a
safety mechanism for people who need, you know, safe ride
share travel.

Speaker 15 (53:01):
I mean yes and no. God gives you an idea
and you move on it. Obviously nobody else knows upon it.
It's like I said, it's it's to you. It's it's
your given purpose, it's your dream. To the outside world,
you do not have to prove yourself. So I realized
that when you're when you're giving something that to prove yourself,
you got to prove it on all levels.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
Gotcha?

Speaker 14 (53:21):
And why is it so difficult for you to be
in all fifty states as opposed to five that you're
in now?

Speaker 15 (53:26):
One side got into the technology part and understanding that
every state has a fee for ride sharing. That's when
it became a challenge. It became a challenge of every
state is different. One state may have a two permit,
one state may have one hundred thousand dollars permit. So
every state there's a cost to it. It may be larger,
maybe little.

Speaker 6 (53:43):
So what states are you in now the states that
we're in or the states that are costing that you're in.

Speaker 15 (53:47):
So the states that we're in, we're in Georgia, We're
in Florida, We're in Tennessee, we're in Texas, and we're
in Arizona.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
Gotcha.

Speaker 14 (53:54):
So out of those five states, have you found a
lot of success? Tell me about some of you know,
some success stories.

Speaker 15 (54:00):
Georgia started off very successful. I mean when it went viral,
we probably had over like four hundred rides accumulating the
one day. But obviously it just went viral. I wasn't
even there. Hell, I didn't even have a car yet.
So Georgia started off faster than it started to slow down.
So people were realizing that, oh man, he's not even
in this state though, he's not even in that area.
So it was like when it first started, I was

(54:21):
flying a planing building it at the same time. So
Georgia was the first part. Shaquillo Na was the first
person to ever reached out to me, right, So it
started to you know, articulate itself in the state of Georgia.
When we opened Florida, Florida was a it just it
was like a click. It was like a boom because
in South Florida, I grew up in Brown County. It
was so much people that wanted to ride with us

(54:41):
in South Florida because you know the dynamic, the dynamics,
you're you're on the beach, people are traveling tourists. So
Florida was one of our biggest hot It still is
our biggest hot spot.

Speaker 14 (54:53):
All right, So you offered different levels of service, including
armed security rides. How has the response been from writers?

Speaker 15 (55:01):
Honestly, it's it's been amazing, and I'm gonna tell you why.

Speaker 10 (55:04):
Right.

Speaker 15 (55:05):
One of the response from one of my first rides,
she goes, the main reason why I like this is
because one they're vetted, Two I know their background. Three
it's almost like I'm riding with a family member. So
when you give a person a peace of mind that
they can relax when they know they get in other vehicle,
if they fall asleep, if they're talking about business, they know,
for effect, the driver is not listening. Because we all

(55:26):
our drivers on NDA's all of our drivers have certain backgrounds.
So it was more like if Drake can afford this,
I can afford this. Now now we're getting the same
thing as these rich people. So it was like a
It's like a fresher breath air, you know, for for
the customer, and I'm seeing the point of view like wow,

(55:46):
so okay.

Speaker 14 (55:47):
Right, So, as a black entrepreneur, you know that itself
comes with unique challenges. You know, how has the struggle
to you know, elevate your business throughout all fifty states
and beyond. How does that shape your journey and what
are some of the biggest obstacles and challenge that you

(56:07):
face right now when it comes to taking your business
to that next level.

Speaker 15 (56:14):
It's extremely challenging.

Speaker 10 (56:15):
Man.

Speaker 15 (56:16):
I've been talked about in the news. I've been lied on,
I've people have been paid to take me down through
the news. I've had people send me letters to my home.
I've had people drive to my house and take pictures.
I've received death threats. First time I ever went to
an investor, he said, your hair's too nay, you're too dark,

(56:40):
and no white man is going to invest in you. Right,
And these are the challenges I started to learn as
a black entrepreneur.

Speaker 14 (56:48):
Right, So, how are you navigating through this space right now?
As you know, like again, you get to take your
business to the next level. You're getting ready for it.
You know, what are some of the opportunities that you're
have in fun of you.

Speaker 15 (56:57):
You gotta have tough skin. That's one thing I learned.
You gotta have tough skin. You got to know exactly
what your business is. You can't you can't let no
one sway you. So you have to understand this is
the process. Process ain't gonna be easy.

Speaker 2 (57:09):
Is it worth it?

Speaker 15 (57:10):
Yes, but it's not gonna be easy. I have a
lot of great opportunities in front of me, and I'll
state one that a lot of people don't know. We
actually have a partnership that we have with the Dallas Mavericks.
It's way more than what I'm telling you, But that's
just one. Because of the brand that people can trust,

(57:30):
we have things lining up. The only thing that's going
to take us to the next step is the funding.
So that's the challenge.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
But we have it.

Speaker 15 (57:37):
But the challenge is the funding because I'm doing everything
on my own.

Speaker 14 (57:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure. So outside of the funding,
what's the next step for the Black Wolf app? Any
upcoming features or expansions that you can share.

Speaker 15 (57:50):
Yes, sir, So our new app is coming out in
May once again, I invested in myself. We've upgraded the
entire app, I mean from from the security aspect to
live streaming aspect to share your ride location aspect to
now offering the security through the app aspect. Updated i

(58:11):
u X up in IPS, meaning that it now looks
on the same level as as as Uber and Lyft,
just with a just with a twist, you know, with
the Black Wolf twist. So we'll upgrading everything.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
Hey, that's great.

Speaker 14 (58:25):
Any final words and how can we learn more about
the black Wolf app?

Speaker 15 (58:29):
So we're on Instagram, black will fapp, TikTok black with
f App, Twitter, black will f app LinkedIn, black will
f app in YouTube, Black wilf App.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
Okay. If anyone wants to contact you, where would you know?
Where would they go?

Speaker 15 (58:43):
You can go to my website support at blackwithap dot
com and if they want to contact me directly, my
email is KB at blackwithapp dot com.

Speaker 14 (58:51):
Very simple, beautiful Carrie King Brown, visionary entrepreneur behind the
Black Wolf app, ride share service redefining safety and security transportation.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Keep us up to date. Don't be a stranger. This
is Doug Davis.

Speaker 14 (59:04):
You're listening to your black business on the Black Perspective
on the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
That's our program for this week. For more on these stories,
listen to the Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio
app or log onto binnews dot com for all of
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(59:28):
social media at Black Information Network and on X and
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Speaker 2 (59:34):
I'm Mike Island.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
Wishing everyone a great Sunday, and be sure to tune
in next week at this time for another edition of
the Black Perspective right here on the Black Information Network.